Category Archives: Words

It was Scout Finch who said standing on Boo Radley’s front porch was enough. Enough to permit her to do as her father, Atticus, had recommended. To climb into the skin of someone else—in this case, an aged-beyond-his-years recluse—and walk … Continue reading →

On December 1, in celebration of my second novel’s release, Christian fiction author Chautona Havig posted a blog and podcast in which she permitted me to talk at length about my creative choices in All In, some of which have … Continue reading →

First and foremost, my heartfelt thanks to Blake Kimzey and Writing Workshops Dallas for inviting me to post on the WWD blog, where this appeared on November 30, 2020 My second novel, Stork Bite, released in November 2020, after eight … Continue reading →

“But he answered him not one word…” Matthew 27:14 The first thing rookie writers learn when they join a writers group that practices read and critique is to accept criticism without countering with a defense. “No defending!” bark critique veterans … Continue reading →

(This essay was originally posted in July 2016) “Writing is very silly business at best.” John Steinbeck I can’t say it any better than Mr. Steinbeck. Recently, I’ve thought about what my answer would be if I were asked, “Why … Continue reading →

“…I asked novelists…what it felt like when they went into a novel. None of them wanted to know what I meant by into.” Margaret Atwood, Negotiating with the Dead One of the unnamed novelists who were asked this question said … Continue reading →

“There’s an epigram tacked to my office bulletin board, pinched from a magazine: ‘Wanting to meet a writer because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like pâté.’” Margaret Atwood, Negotiating with the Dead … Continue reading →

INTERVIEWER You start with a character in mind. Does that character change as you go along? Take Sophie’s Choice for example.   STYRON There’s a scene near the beginning of Sophie’s Choice about Sophie’s childhood in Poland, and she begins to talk about … Continue reading →

Clarissa takes one of Richard’s hands in hers. She is surprised, even now, at how frail it is—how palpably it resembles a bundle of twigs. He says, “Here we are. Don’t you think?” “Pardon me?” “We’re middle-aged and we’re young … Continue reading →

“To me, it’s all about perceptions, perceptions about life or human nature or the way something looks or the way something sounds. Two or three of them on a page in a notebook, that’s what it’s really all about. Getting … Continue reading →

Stock-in-trade: something that someone or something does or makes very well and often. So I bought this stock a few years ago. It seemed like a sure thing. The company was developing a technology that might revolutionize early treatment of … Continue reading →

reentry noun 1. an act of reentering; 2. the return from outer space into the earth’s atmosphere Too fast Out of control Charred Or only scorched Reentry to the land of the living From a flight of fancy Fuel exhausted … Continue reading →